The conclusion of the search for the Atom in the Microcosmos!The Story: "The Choice" by Gerry Conway, Don Heck, and Romeo Tanghal. Picking up from last issue, the JLA and the Siren Sisterhood have made their way into the citadel to retrieve the late Lord Kaa's royal staff.
Unfortunately, the evil Black Princess is waiting there for them! She blasts Hawkman first, then attacks the rest!
A pitched battle ensues, the mutant powers of the sisters proving to be more than a match for the Princess' royal guards. But during the battle, the Black Princess sneaks off.
Mother Moon heals Hawkman, but here they discover a problem: the sisters are intent on restoring the rightful heirs to the throne, destroying all who help him.
That includes the Atom, which of course doesn't sit well with the JLA. Krystal Kaa takes an us-vs.-them approach, and they nearly come to blows. Luckily cooler heads prevail, and they choose to split up towards their own goals.
Meanwhile, all is not well between Golitha and the Black Princess. When Golitha shows her that he has no intention of giving her more power, she takes matters into her own hands, stabbing Golitha right in the back in front of the crowd!
All hell breaks loose--the Atom wakes up, goes beserk, and the JLA tries to stop him. Krystal Kaa goes after the Black Princess, and the two groups start to take each other on.
But Mother Moon uses her healing powers to drag the Atom out of his fog, which works. The Black Princess' mystical eye beam, fired at Krystal Kaa, bounces back onto her, killing her. Krystal Kaa retakes the staff, and the throne.
She thanks the JLA for their help, and uses the staff to send them home. In their world, the JLA has only been gone a few hours, and Ray and Jean make up. Even Batman enjoys the moment:
Notable Moments: The big news here, of course, is the sudden, unexpected departure of longtime JLA writer Gerry Conway. What's even odder is that he would be back just two issues later!
A happier, better time when superheroes and their wives could be 'two happy people.'
ReplyDeleteWith Batman's departure following this story(in BATO #1...couldn't even have happened in JLA itself!), I consider this issue to be the end of the 'classic, Silver Age, Pre-Crisis' JLA. Even though the big changes of the Alan Gold era were still months away, it never seemed quite like the JLA without Batman. The imminent departures of the Flash and Atom, and the ongoing absence of Green Lantern, really took a lot of the shine off the team.
ReplyDeleteWhile I enjoyed the 'new' JLA, I would have preferred they be added to the existing team, rather than having its membership cut down so much.
I've always been curious about Gerry Conway's departure, and his just as sudden return to the book. Was it simply the change of editors that persuaded Conway to come back, or was there some other assignment that fell through(JLA-Avengers, maybe?)
If Rob ever interviews Gerry, I'm sure lots of readers would like the scoop!
"If Rob ever interviews Gerry, I'm sure lots of readers would like the scoop!"
ReplyDeletestay tuned...
You know, I totally agree about cutting the membership down. They always do that in these comic stories, both Avengers and JLA, while it makes much more sense to expand the team. What writers rarely seemed to understand was that, with a big cast, you don't have to include every character in every story. Just takea look at Justice League Unlimited, which took nearly the entire heroic population of the DCU and told very engaging stories about them, without the tales ever feeling crowded.
ReplyDelete